That's an awful smell

A while back, the plumbing at the church stopped up. Come to find out, it was clogged deep in the pipes. It took many hours, opening up the walls and taking apart the plumbing. The process wreaked the building of stench. It smelled so bad you didn't want to breathe. Two of the men from our church are professional plumbers and volunteered to make the repairs. While they were ripping everything apart, I said, "How do you handle the smell?" One quickly replied, "It's the smell of money!" I had never thought of it like that, but it totally made sense.

As a Pastor, I often hear people talk about the misery in their lives. Many Christians begin to doubt God or their assurance of their own salvation during hard times. Many feel that God is punishing them for something they did in their past. However, the Bible clearly states that as believers, we are going to face trials and tribulations in this world. Just as the plumbers were able to see the benefit of the awful aroma from clogged-up plumbing, we too are told to see the greater good in our misery.

James says, " Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4 NASB). As we look at the problems this world dishes out to us, we do not need to give it power to destroy our life. In fact, James tells us that facing trials and tribulations in our life builds us up, makes us stronger and makes us complete.

What actually takes place is we begin to trust in God and His plan for our life. We understand that all things work together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28, NASB). When people respond, "Things are going so bad for you." You can respond, "It's just another opportunity to see God do another amazing work in my life."